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Days After Settlement, Pickets Return to Insomnia Cookies |
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by Jake Carman, |
 Picket lines have returned to Insomnia Cookies, less than two weeks after the company settled with four workers who struck in August of 2013. On Friday, March 14, two dozen union members and supporters rallied in front of the Boston location of Insomnia Cookies demanding the reinstatement with back pay of union organizer and bicycle delivery "driver" Tasia Edmonds. On March 9 the company suspended Edmonds without pay for a month, alleging insubordination, while the union maintains she was disciplined for her union-building efforts.
Video of the picket |
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15 Mar 2014
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Filed under: News / Labor : Organizing |
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Operation LIPSTICK: A Case Study in Propaganda and Counter Insurgency |
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by Boston IMC, |
Late last month Open Media Boston posted an article titled Antiviolence Activists Join City Officials To Launch MBTA-Wide Ad Campaign. The campaign in question was for Operation LIPSTICK, aka Ladies Involved In Putting a Stop to Inner-City Killings, an organization that is attempting to reduce shootings in neighborhoods of color by convincing women to stop buying guns for felons (who are legally barred from owning firearms). LIPSTICK is an offshoot of a nonprofit group called Citizens for Safety, who describe themselves as "a community coalition working to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and youths without abridging the freedoms of law-abiding Americans." The OMB article is essentially a puff piece. The author, Dave Goodman, expresses some skepticism about the efficacy of the MBTA ad campaign, but none about LIPSTICK or their mission, even claiming that "it’s extremely difficult to question the motivations behind the campaign."
Unfortunately, it's actually pretty easy. Even a cursory look at LIPSTICK's strategy and methods reveals a deeply problematic organization that is likely doing far more harm than good. To see why, read on. |
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URGENT ACTION: Northeastern University Suspends Students for Justice in Palestine |
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by Northeastern SJP, |
 With profound disappointment and righteous indignation Northeastern University Students for Justice in Palestine announces it has been suspended as an organization. SJP is disappointed because Northeastern’s claims of creating a diverse learning environment that encourages the free exchange of ideas and promotes Academic Freedom are impossible to reconcile with the university’s decision to suppress our speech and suspend our political group. As if banning our activities from campus and denying us all use of campus resources wasn’t outrageous enough, the university is pursuing expulsion-level sanctions for two students—all for participation in a mock eviction action. SJP is furious to report the only individuals to face our school’s opaque disciplinary process are two young women of color; none of the white or male participants have faced any charges. This unprecedented ban and appalling prosecutions are the latest attempt by the university to suppress pro-Palestine speech, and continues the university’s disturbing history of enacting injustice. |
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12 Mar 2014
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Filed under: News / International : Organizing : Race |
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Three Upcoming Actions This Week |
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by Jake, |
Dear Black Rose friends and comrades // Queridxs amigxs y camaradas de Rosa Negra,
[español a continuación]
It seems like the struggle just won't wait for Spring! Between victories, attacks, and ongoing fights, things are heating up and the snow is finally melting! Please join us in the streets for 3 actions this week and more in the coming weeks. Here are some upcoming actions we will be participating in. Details below. Hope to see you there!
//
¡Parece que la lucha simplemente no va esperar hasta la primavera! Entre las victorias, los ataques y las luchas en desarrollo, se está calentando la cosa y por fin la nieve se está derritiendo! Por favor, únanse a nosotrxs en la calle para 3 acciones esta semana y más en las próximas semanas. Les enviamos la información de las próximas actividades en que vamos a estar participando. Detalles a continuación. ¡Esperamos verles ahí!
Solidarity // Solidaridad, Black Rose//Rosa Negra - Boston |
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12 Mar 2014
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Filed under: News / International |
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Insomnia Cookies Forced to Compensate Fired Workers |
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by Boston IWW, |
"...Something told me to stand up for what I believe in. To me,
this victory was worth every bit of the struggle." - Jonathan Peña, IWW
member and Insomnia Cookies Striker.
Four workers at Insomnia Cookies' Cambridge store went on strike on August
19, protesting poverty pay and wretched working conditions, and demanding
$15/hr, health benefits and a union at their workplace. The company
illegally fired all four. For the next six months strikers, IWW members,
allies, and student organizations at both Harvard and Boston University
held pickets, marches, rallies, forums, phone blitzes, and organized
boycotts, while workers continued organizing at both the Cambridge and
Boston locations. The union also pursued legal charges through the National
Labor Relations Board (NLRB). |
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05 Mar 2014
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Filed under: News / Labor : Organizing |
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